An inquest into the death of a baby girl from Belfast won't hear from all of the witnesses who testified at a criminal trial that saw her father acquitted of murder, a coroner has said.

The inquest examining three-month-old Caragh Walsh's death from head injuries in 2014 will mainly focus on the oral evidence of doctors who treated her, a preliminary hearing in Belfast was told.

Coroner Joe McCrisken said the inquest proceedings would have access to the transcript of Christopher O'Neill's trial and could refer to other witness evidence during the course of the inquest.

Caragh Walsh died after being rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital

As well as medics, Caragh's mother Tammy Louise Walsh will also give evidence during the proceedings, but it was not confirmed during Thursday's hearing whether Mr O'Neill will take to the witness box.

Mr McCrisken stressed that the inquest was a fact-finding exercise and served a different purpose to criminal proceedings.

"This is an inquest and not a criminal trial," he told lawyers at Belfast Coroners' Court.